Isola Rizza: Villas, Rice-Growing Landscape and Traces of History

Isola Rizza combines a plain shaped by waterways with villas, archaeological traces and distinctive signs of the area’s history. If you would like to experience Italian landscape and culture together, you will find many starting points here for planning an individual trip.

Landscape Between Rivers and Rice Fields

Isola Rizza lies in a plain bordered by the Adige and the Menago. The Bussè lies to the south, while the Piganzo crosses the area. Isola Rizza also includes the sandy rises of Dossi, which are considered to be deposits left by the waterways. The marshy areas favored rice cultivation for centuries. Water, soil and agriculture are therefore directly connected with the area’s cultural heritage.

Villas with Artistic Interiors

Villa Polettini was built in the 15th century. It has a large hall and four rooms with 16th-century frescoes and floral decorations. One of these rooms features painted landscape panels on the east, south and west walls, with a fantastic architectural composition in the center. Other features include painted pilasters with candelabra motifs and small classical medallions, a coffered ceiling with octagonal panels in pink and ivory, and doors with painted faux-marble finishes. In the 19th century, a large fresco entitled “La finta malata” was also added to Villa Polettini.

Villa Maffei De Medici, built in the 18th century, consists of a rectangular building and two independent side annexes. Together, they form a U-shaped courtyard. The main building of Villa Sagramoso Buri dates back to the 15th century. It includes a large, continuous central hall and six rooms on the ground floor; four of them have openings with raised decorations made of red Verona marble featuring floral elements. In 1589, the knight Andrea of the noble Mandelli family settled in the Isola Rizza area to establish an estate there.

Archaeological Traces from Several Periods

A biconical urn from the Early Iron Age found in Pieve in 1949 provides evidence of a settlement there that has not yet been researched. The Casalandri necropolis dates from the 3rd to the 1st century BC and documents an extensive settlement. Both finds offer a glimpse into the area’s long history of habitation.

Local Symbols and Living Memory

At the foot of the bell tower of Isola Rizza’s parish church is a coat of arms dating from 1535. It depicts a sow holding a bundle of rice stalks in its mouth. The town center is also home to the unusual votive cross complex known as Croce del Gallo. Villa Buri was included in the FAI campaign “I Luoghi del Cuore” in 2003, 2016, 2020 and 2022.

The Treasure of Isola Rizza

The so-called Treasure of Isola Rizza was discovered by chance in 1872 in Isola Rizza, in the Veronese plain, and is now kept at the Museo di Castelvecchio in Verona. Anyone wishing to learn more about the area’s history before their trip can obtain the book “Isola Rizza Ieri e Oggi” at the headquarters of Pro Loco Isola Rizza.

You can also explore other places for your research on Italy: Povegliano Veronese, Erbé, Belfiore, Caprino Veronese, Settimo, Angiari, Roveré Veronese and Lugagnano.

For the broader travel overview: Verona.